USATF CEO Craig A. Masback on Tuesday spoke to the media via national teleconference. Below is the full text of his opening statement, which is the text of a memo sent by Masback to the USA Track & Field Board of Directors in advance of the Olympic Trials. For a full digital audio replay of the teleconference, including questions and answers, visit www.usatf.org.

Craig Masback Opening Statement:

We've had trying times as an organization over the past 25 years and you've faced tough situations as a Board of Directors. But nothing is more challenging or dispiriting then the situation in which we find ourselves. Instead of a daily celebration of our great sport and our outstanding athletes, newspapers around the world are delivering news of scandal and shame related to some of our athletes and coaches. We and our sport deserve better.

No one has or should believe that our sport does not face a serious problem. I'm sure there's something we could have done differently over the past 20 years that would have discouraged what appears to be a small sub-culture of cheating athletes and coaches from believing that using performance-enhancing substances was an acceptable route to success. We as a track and field family bear some measure of responsibility anytime one of our own makes the decision to cheat.

However, don't misunderstand me. I am proud of the USA Track & Field commitment to anti-doping that dates to the 1980s. Since that time, USATF has spent a larger percentage of its resources on testing and punishing athletes than any other sports organization. And, we've paid a larger price in terms of public perception by virtue of catching and disciplining athletes - more than 150 in all.

Yet, whatever we have done and are doing, it clearly isn't enough. As I've said since the fall, if even one athlete makes the tragic choice to cheat, we have a problem. The silver lining of the BALCO scandal is that the action of a track coach to step forward and be the whistleblower that broke open the case has empowered and given comfort to the vast majority of our athletes and coaches who train and compete honestly. Additionally, our Zero Tolerance program and coordinated activities with USADA and the USOC put us at the forefront of efforts to educate athletes of all ages about the ethical and physiological reasons why cheating is wrong. Since last fall, those Zero Tolerance messages have gone regularly to more than 400,000 young athletes, 40,000 coaches, and over 1 million spectators.

I firmly believe that the vast majority of our elite athletes never even contemplate cheating. For most of those that think about cheating, the extensive testing undertaken by USADA, the IAAF, and WADA - more than 2,000 tests of our top athletes per year - are more than adequate to deter them. Today, the fear factor created by the BALCO investigation and the new weapon of non-analytical positives holds real promise for deterring, or catching, the group of athletes I call "dedicated cheaters."

I'm sure it seems grossly unfair to you that sports that do no testing are not held accountable on the anti-doping issue or that the majority of the top medal winning countries in track and field - to this day - conduct no domestic, out-of-competition testing. But, we have learned that encouraging reporters to investigate what others don't do does nothing to reduce the scrutiny and criticism of our sport. We should continue, as we have always done, to do the right thing and to do it to the best of our ability and trust that the day will come when all sports are held to the same anti-doping standard to which we are held.

We don't want cheaters in our sport. We work too hard to organize and promote the sport at all levels to allow a small number of athletes to cast aspersions on the millions of Americans who do things the right way as they enjoy and succeed in our sport. Our sport will survive and thrive for the same reasons it always has - because of its intrinsic appeal, its ancient origins, its rich traditions, its incredible diversity, its amazing participation base, and the dedicated volunteers who work tirelessly to make it possible for athletes of all ages to pursue their dreams.

By virtually every metric, our sport is thriving and doing better than ever before. Participation is up - with record numbers of junior high and high school participants and burgeoning adult participation in road running. Attendance at events is up -- every one of our Golden Spike Tour meets showed an increase in fans this year and the 110-year-old Penn Relays set an all-time attendance record, with 112,000 spectators. TV ratings are up - our NBC ratings were up over 20% this year, the NBC/ USA package will broadcast a record 14 hours of Olympic Trials coverage, and our ESPN2 broadcasts improved the ratings over the lead-in programming by close to 40%. Sponsorship revenues are up - we've increased sponsorship revenues over 400% over the past six years and have already re-signed Visa and Nike. We have a winning mix of great veterans and emerging stars who will lead our team in Athens, Beijing, and beyond. Even with the BALCO issues, we are poised to have one of our strongest Olympic Trials ever, and we have one of the most promising groups of young, under-22 athletes in recent history. There is much to feel good about.

Interestingly, while we are in the midst of our busiest competitive season - with our Junior Championships, Youth Championships, Club Championships, Olympic Trials, World Junior Championships, Masters Championships, Junior Olympics, USA v. Germany v. France, and Athens Games on successive weekends - we are deeply immersed in planning for the future. As will be discussed at our Sacramento Board meetings, we have reviewed the Strategic plan and updated it, we are putting together our High Performance Development Plan for 2005-2008, and we are planning what will be our most exciting Annual Meeting ever.

While there are rough days ahead, I urge you to come to Sacramento full of hope. You will see an incredible display of what is great about our sport. And, while challenges remain, your leadership will continue to take us to the next level as an organization and a sport.